Jun 11 (Japan Times) - Sweden's Team Artemis completed its remarkable comeback to eliminate SoftBank Team Japan from the America's Cup Challenger semifinal series on Friday and set up a showdown with Emirates Team New Zealand.
The Swedes, who at one point had trailed 3-1 to the Japanese in the best-of-nine series, produced a superb display on Bermuda's Great Sound to clinch a 5-3 victory.
Artemis, skippered by Nathan Outteridge, will now battle it out against the New Zealand challenge to decide which team will advance to face defending champion Oracle Team USA.
SoftBank's hopes were dealt a blow shortly before Friday's race, when its boat struck an unidentified object in the water. With not enough time to get the boat back to dock for an inspection, divers had to check on the boat in the water.
Barker said although no evidence of damage was detected, the time spent assessing the wings had disrupted the vital period usually spent gauging the conditions just before the race.